Date: 04/27/2018

Number: 12

I had been away from home yesterday for most of the day, so did not have a chance to observe much, though I had seen a few monarchs flying around when I got back in the early evening. But would there be monarchs today? Yes ... amazingly there would be many! A day of strong contrasts ~ seeing quite a few of the long-journeyed monarchs (with all sorts of wing conditions) and one of the new generation.

At 10:30am I went outside to water plants in the front yard ~ a faded-winged monarch came flying straight towards me and then sailed back across the yard and settled down to do some nectaring in a beautiful patch of lavender self-heal flowers. I think he had been planning to nectar from the raspberry butterfly bush, but I got in the way!

At 11am I went out into the pastures to do some exploring and checking milkweed. It was 66 degrees F, sunny, lightly breezy with north winds, and 54% humidity. I found some eggs and monarch caterpillars, ranging from newborn to 5th instar. I saw four monarchs at that time. One was a very bright fresh-winged female who was resting/sunning on the leaves of some wild grapevines. She seemed to be a newborn ~ and thankfully I would see her again later. I also saw two faded-winged males and one very tattery-winged male. They were mostly resting/sunning and nectaring on self-heal flowers and prairie plantains.

By 1:30pm it had warmed to 75 degrees F, was sunny with breezes from the north, and 40% humidity. Wonderfully, the fresh-winged newborn female was still here and was flying about. She was super curious about her environment, including checking out my son and myself. She nectared briefly on a self-heal flower, then dashed around with her bright wings flashing. She explored the blackberry vines along the fence line, fluttered around milkweed, and nectared on our potted butterfly bush. I was so happy to see this baby girl ~ what a bright spark of joy! We saw her for a least half an hour in our front yard and then she was off ~ hopefully on her northward journey!

Throughout the afternoon and early evening I saw multiple individual monarchs ~ there seemed to be an influx of them. Could the north wind be playing a role? All the ones I saw had somewhat faded and/or tattered wings. They were flying around, resting, and nectaring. The favorite nectar plants being self-heal flowers and prairie plantains ~ with some nectaring from milkweed flowers and roughleaf dogwood tree blossoms.

This is a photo of the joyful, curious newborn female monarch nectaring in the bright afternoon sunlight. She is the fulfillment of many ~ their efforts and their long journeys. Now she is ready to begin her own adventure!

Montgomery, TX

Latitude: 30.4 Longitude: -95.8

Observed by: Kathy
Contact Observer

The observer's e-mail address will not be disclosed.
Contact will be made through a web-based form.